Total Nigeria signs contracts for OML 58 upgrade

Oct 21, 2008 02:00 AM

Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited will effectively kick-start the OML 58 upgrade project with the
signing of contracts valued at $ 3 bn, with critical stakeholders.
A statement released by Fred Ohwahwa, Total E&P Manager in charge of Media and Corporate Affairs disclosed that
the contracts will be signed by the company with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the senior joint
venture (JV) partner and the major JV of contractors including; Saipon, Ponticelli, Saipem and Desicon who are billed
to handle the main EPSCC contract.

The project which is located in Egi community in the Onelga of Rivers State, is aimed at improving the facilities for
enhanced production and meeting other national objectives in the oil and gas sector.
The OML 58 upgrade is essentially designed to meet the government's objective of boosting domestic gas supply (for
both industrial and domestic use); complying with government's Gas Flare Output Policy; supplying gas to the Nigerian
Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) in Bonny; enhancing the security and asset integrity of the operating environment and
raising the bar in respect of safety for workers and members of the host community.

The OML 58 upgrade is the biggest intervention in OML 58 since the company began production there in 1966. It is
coming at a time when the company is extending its frontiers in oil and gas exploration and production, which rhymes
with the national objective of sustaining and increasing output in this critical sector of the Nigerian
economy.
The company pointed out that as an integral part of the project, the Nigerian content policy of the Federal
Government is being pursued with painstaking determination.
"Nigerians -- both local companies and people from the operating area -- are guaranteed to participate from the
Upgrade. Over 1.5 mm man-hours will be deployed locally for the execution of the project," the company disclosed.

It is envisaged that with the formal signing of the contracts, and the co-operation of all the parties, work will
progress as scheduled, which will make possible for Total E&P to deliver on its domestic gas commitments and
other objectives.
Total E&P Nigeria (TEPNG) is a subsidiary of the Total Group of companies. Total is the fourth largest oil and
gas company in the world with operations in more than 100 countries. The group's activities span all aspects of the
energy industry, from oil and gas exploration and production to downstream refining and marketing of oil and gas
products. Incorporated in Nigeria in May 1962, TEPNG is one of the major players in the exploration, development and
production of Nigeria's abundant hydrocarbon resources.

Total has exploration and production activities in 42 countries and produces oil and gas in 30 countries. Output was
2.36 mm barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2006. Europe, Africa and the Middle East are our main producing regions,
followed by North and South America and Asia. Total has a solid, diversified portfolio of proved reserves
representing 11.1 bn barrels of oil equivalent and of proved and probable reserves of 20.5 bn barrels of oil
equivalent.
The gas & power division encompasses the marketing, trading, transport and storage of natural gas and liquefied
natural gas (LNG), LNG re-gasification and the maritime transport and trading of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). It
also includes power generation from combined cycle gas plants and renewable energies, the trading and marketing of
electricity as well as the production and marketing of coal. Total is continuing to develop its global presence in
each of these activities.

The International Affairs Institute (IAI) and OCP Policy Center recently launched a new book: The Future of Natural Gas. Markets and Geopolitics.

The book is an in-depth analysis of some of the fastest moving gas markets, attempting to define the trends of a resource that will have a decisive role in shaping the global economy and modelling the geopolitical dynamics in the next decades.

Some of the top scholars in the energy sector have contributed to this volume such as Gonzalo Escribano, Director Energy and Climate Change Programme, Elcano Royal Institute, Madrid, Coby van der Linde, Director Clingendael International Energy Programme, The Hague and Houda Ben Jannet Allal, General Director Observatoire Méditerranéen de l’Energie (OME), Paris.

For only €32.50 you have your own copy of The Future of Natural Gas. Markets and Geopolitics. Click here to order now!